The Ride
by DatJaden
Summary: Jaden get's stranded on the way to a tournament and gets a ride from a mysterious yet familiar face.   Based off of the song The Ride by David Allan Coe


Jaden trudged down the road, wondering just how he'd gotten into this situation. He'd gotten kicked off of the bus to the tournament in Domino because he was 'being distracting'. He let out a sound of annoyance and kicked at a rock in his path. He'd /never/ get to the tournament in time if he had to walk the entire way.

He was so distracted by his annoyed thoughts he didn't notice the old Cadillac coming down the road till it slowed to keep pace with him. The driver leaned over and rolled the window down to grin out at him. He was deathly pale and his eyes were a deep shade of violet that they looked almost red. His spiked hair brushed against the roof of the car as he leaned farther to call out to Jaden.

"It's a long walk to Domino, want a ride?"

Jaden hesitated for a moment before shrugging and opening the door and sliding into the passenger seat. It wasn't like he had anything to lose anyway. Besides, he /had/ to get there before the tournament started.

The car rolled forward as Jaden settled into the seat, relaxing for a moment before pulling his duel disk off of his arm and setting it in his lap. It was getting heavy and he didn't need it for a while. He didn't notice the man's eyes flicker towards it. Nor did he notice the small smile.

"Are you a duelist?"he asked, turning his eyes back to the road.

Jaden glanced up and nodded, a grin tugging at his lips.

"Yes, sir. I'm going to be the best duelist /ever/!" He said, punching the air excitedly.

The man glanced over at him and smiled. They fell silent for a few moments while Jaden contemplated why he felt like he'd seen this man before. He felt like he should know his name but he couldn't seem to recall what it was. It was at the tip of his tongue but every-time he tried to grasp at it, it seemed to slip out of his reach again. He was pulled out of his thoughts by the familiar stranger once more.

"To be the best takes a lot of work. It's a long, hard, ride." He said thoughtfully, his eyes staring straight ahead at the road.

Jaden stared at him, his head tilting to the side slightly as he contemplated that.

"You sound like you'd know. Do you duel too?" He asked.

The man nodded. "A long time ago. I was good too but I learned that to get to the top you have to work hard and be willing to lose something to gain it."

"Lose something? What did you lose, if you don't mind me asking."

"A lot of time, and some other boring things that you wouldn't be interested in." He said with a grin, side glancing at the boy again.

Jaden grinned back and they fell silent again. As Jaden watched the houses and buildings fly by he still couldn't shake the feeling like he'd met this man before. It bothered him to not be able to remember, it really did. It didn't take long for the him to notice that they were getting closer and closer to the arena.

The car slowed to a stop at an intersection and the man smiled at him and motioned for him to get out.

"This is as far as I go. Good luck in that tournament of yours." He said as Jaden opened the door and stepped out. Jaden circled around the car so he could talk to the man through the drivers-side window.

"Thanks, Mister. For the ride and the luck~"He said with a grin.

"You don't have to call me mister, kid. The whole world calls me Yugi." And with that he shifted the car into drive and turned down the road in the intersection that went in the opposite direction of the arena.

Jaden turned toward the arena before freezing on the spot. Yugi? As in Yugi Muto? Everything clicked into place in his head and he spun around to get a good look at the Cadillac again, maybe to even flag him down to get his autograph, and saw nothing but an empty street.

* * *

This is my first attempt at getting back into writing instead of just role playing, and I think it went pretty well. It was inspired by a song by David Allan Coe, though the version I was listening to was done by Tim McGraw. Let me know what you think~?


End file.
